


Game Change

by Wyomingite_1890



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:22:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22963087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wyomingite_1890/pseuds/Wyomingite_1890
Summary: Gov. Regina Mills of Maine secures the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential race, after which she struggles to find the running mate who will help her win the election. She finally stumbles upon a man who is the seemingly perfect vice-presidential candidate; David Nolan, the young, attractive, and well-spoken Governor of Minnesota, who has a loving, beautiful wife, a teenage daughter, and a newborn son. However, certain secrets begin to find their way out of the rock pile (and some into the spotlight of the media), that threaten to dismantle the campaign. First of all, David’s daughter Emma is five months pregnant, and the father, her boyfriend Neal, is revealed to be the estranged son of one of Regina’s biggest campaign financiers. As these revelations begin to drive rifts between loved ones, they may not just crush Regina and David’s chance at the White House, but could destroy both of their family’s along with it.
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy/Emma Swan, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood, Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Kudos: 9





	Game Change

Hyatt Hotel 

Los Angeles, California 

June 7 

Regina sat on the bed, nervously twiddling her thumbs. She could hear her staff chatting away in the other room, all of them keeping their eyes glued to either their phones or the TV. Robin was in their as well, acting as her eyes and ears. She, however, could not bare to watch. Deadlocked with her opponent, this final primary would determine who received the Democratic Party’s nomination. With everyone constantly refreshing their phones, the environment had gotten to tense for Regina’s comfort. 

She looked at the bottle of red wine she had glanced at twice before. She had resisted those two previous times, but this time she caved in. She rushed to grab a glass, and poured until it was nearly full. As she raised the glass to lips, Robin rushed into the room.

“Regina!”

In shock, Regina spit out the wine that had managed to get into her mouth, immediately coughing violently. Her husband rushed to pat her back.

“What,” she managed to weakly get out in between coughs.

“You have to get in here, NBC just called it,” he said frantically, grabbing her arm. He rushed her into the other room, getting there in just enough time to here Kristen Welker say … 

“NBC news in now declaring Regina Mills the presumptive Democratic nominee.” Regina threw her arms in the air, coupling it by shouting “Woo-hoo.” She watched as many of her staffers did the same. Robin swept her into a deep, passionate kiss as Roland came running up to them, clutching his stuffed monkey. He hugged Regina’s legs. 

“Great job, Regina, I’m so happy you won.” She placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“Well thank you, dear. Now what are you doing up, I thought you were supposed to be asleep.” She gave a confused look, coupled with a look of concern. 

“I tried to, but I was too excited, and everyone out there was so loud,” he yawned. 

“Well, go back to bed, everyone here is going to go home, so it will be quiet,” she said, giving him hug, before gently nudging him back to the bedroom. He walked back sleepily, rubbing his eyes, then came a short session of goodbyes and congratulations. She waved goodbye as the last of her staffers disappeared out of the door, and suddenly felt Robin kissing the back of her neck. 

“Should we go to bed as well,” he said suggestively. She turned around and caught the next kiss with her lips. 

“I don’t know, Roland’s in the other room,” she playfully refused.

“Oh, come on,” he pouted, “we haven’t been intimate since you announced your campaign. If I have to, I will carry you into the bedroom, tear your clothes off, and mount you myself.” 

Regina gave him a cock-eyed look, then brought him in for another kiss. She jerked her head towards the bedroom. He smiled seductively as he carried her to the bedroom. 

*******

Ten minutes later, they were lying side by side, buck naked and panting so loudly, you’d think they were dogs.  _ I’ve missed this _ , thought Regina. Robin got up, pulling on his black underpants, the ones Regina thought were particularly sexy, and headed over to the nightstand. He handed Regina her unfinished glass of wine, then poured another for himself. He raised his glass in a toast.

“To the next President of the United States.” Regina smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t go sizing up the White House just yet, we still have a lot to do before the general. There’s the convention, the campaign that will follow, the constant road trips … hell, I don’t even have a VP yet.” 

Her mind started to drift off to worry,  _ who would she choose? _ This was the game change choice, and whoever ended up being her pick would make or break her chance at the Presidency. 

“Regina…” Robin’s voice echoed. “Regina!” She turned her head, snapped back to the present. 

“You okay,” he asked.

‘Yeah,” she said, hesitant, “I’m fine.” 

“Are you sure,” he asked worriedly. She nodded in response. “Okay, well, I’m going to get ready for bed.” He headed to bathroom, and she heard his electric toothbrush hum to life. She slipped on a light gown, then slipped under the covers, letting herself sink into comfort. Robin came back into the room, getting into bed himself, turning off the lamp. 

Regina moved to rest her head on his shoulder. Despite the challenges that were ahead, she wanted to stay in this moment forever. The kind of moment she hadn’t experienced since she launched her campaign. She snuggled in closer, taking in the warmth of his body as she drifted off to sleep. 

*******

Regina woke the next morning to the smell of coffee and English muffins. She got out of bed and put on a hotel bathrobe. Walking into the main room, she saw Robin reading the newspaper, sipping his tea. She pecked his cheek, then went over to pour herself a cup of coffee. Just then Roland walked in, yawning and rubbing his eyes. 

“Good morning, little man,” she said, rather sleepily herself, bending down to give him a hug, placing a kiss on his curly-haired head. As she cut up some fruit for Roland’s breakfast, she heard her cell phone vibrate. She picked it up, looking to see who it was.  _ Sidney Glass _ , it read; her press secretary. 

“Good morning, Sidney. What’s up?”

“Regina, hello,” he said, in his usual stern, yet slightly enthusiastic, with a hint of groveling, voice, “First of all, congratulations on your victory, last night.” 

“Thank you, Sidney.”

“Secondly, I’ve suggested we schedule a rally as soon as possible. The sooner we get your victory rally out of the way, the sooner we can get to work on more important matters, i.e. your convention speech, future campaign stops, the debates, and, most importantly, finding your running mate.”

“Okay,” Regina said, temporarily pushed back into her worried state, “first of all, where is my next rally.”

“Um, let me see,” she could hear Sidney talking to another one of her staffers, “we plan to schedule it at SMU in Houston, Texas. In about… tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow, wow. Okay,” she said, glancing at Robin and Roland. “What time should we be on the plane,” she questioned.

“Actually, we’ve scheduled for the plane to leave tonight, at about 8:00 p.m.”

“Alright, well, we’ll be ready by then. Thank you, Sidney.”

“Anytime, Regina.” 

As he hung up, she quickly grabbed her coffee, and sat down at the desk, pen and paper in hand. She began to vigorously write something that would resemble a speech. There was so much pressure on her now. As of last night, she was the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party. 

She  _ had _ to nail this victory speech,  _ then _ her  _ convention  _ speech, and then the many speeches that would follow, and finally, the stress of not knowing whether the final speech of this campaign would be one of victory or concession. She wrote and scratched until the page looked more like a child’s scribbles than the speech of a presidential nominee. 

“You do know you have a speechwriter.” She turned to see Robin, looking coy. She gave a small nod. 

She  _ knew  _ that, she just thought that if she’s going to give this speech, it should come directly from her. After four hours, and several failed attempts at writing, she collapsed in the chair seated by the window, pressing her face against the glass and staring off into the distance. 

Yet, as she took in the sights of the city, all the hype and stress of the past year just seemed to melt away. She was even more relaxed by the approaching aroma of green tea. 

“I thought it might be time for a spot of tea,” he said as he handed her a cup. “Calm nerves lead to clear thoughts.” 

“Thank you,” she said softly. She sipped and the tea flew throughout her body, relaxing every knot and tie it could find. Robin took a seat next to her, and she let her head cuddle into his firm chest. She wanted to melt into this, the world didn’t matter anymore.

“Penny for your thoughts,” she suddenly heard Robin say. She didn’t exactly know what to say first, there was so much. She let herself think for minute as to her response, until finally she said, “I just love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” he said, placing a peck on her cheek, “but seriously, what’s bothering you?” Regina shifted to an upright position. 

“I’m just,” she paused, “I’m just so stressed with everything that’s going on. I don’t have a speech prepared, or a running mate or - “

He quickly pressed his finger against her lips, shushing her. 

“I know you’re stressed,” he calmly said,” and you have every reason to be. But I know you’re going to be able to find the perfect running mate, because you always trust your gut when it comes to these decisions. Think back to how stressed you were when you were trying to find a running mate when running for Governor. You ended up making the right call with Graham, and you won with flying colors.” 

“I guess,” she whispered.

“And remember,” he continued, “the speech you gave when you launched this campaign. You wrote that entirely by yourself, and the crowd was screaming for you at the end. You did it because you were yourself in that speech. You weren’t the Mayor of Storybrooke and you weren’t the Governor of Maine, you were just  _ Regina _ . Why just this time be any different.” Regina sat upright, a newfound energy in her system.

“You’re right,” she said. She rushed back to the desk, vigorously writing away as inspiration seemed to now just gush out of her.  _ I can do this _ , she thought,  _ I am Regina, AND the next President of the United States _ .


End file.
